1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording and reproducing apparatus capable of re-compressing data, and a method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image recording and reproducing apparatus which is capable of re-compressing and re-recording data previously compressed and recorded in a recording medium, and a re-recoding method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the launch of a digital satellite and a terrestrial digital broadcasting system, quality images can be transmitted almost without loss to a viewer's television. Unlike analog broadcasting systems, various additional information can be transmitted through a digital broadcasting system, thereby enabling viewers to enjoy a variety of information. For example, viewers enjoy a variety of entertainments through digital broadcasting. Due to these advantages, there have been growing interests in the image recording and reproducing apparatuses for recording and reproducing image data of high quality, such as digital broadcasting.
In general, an image recording and reproducing apparatus comprises a video cassette recorder (VCR), a digital video disc player (DVDP), and a digital video recorder (DVR).
The DVR is in increasing demand for its ability to record and reproduce a multitude of digital image data such as terrestrial broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, cable broadcasting and network broadcasting through the Internet. Since the DVR records an image as a file in a hard disc drive (HDD), performing a file search for reproducing is simple, and degradation in image quality seldom occurs even if the image is repeatedly reproduced.
However, the HDD has limited storage capacity. Therefore, the DVR compresses the image data for more space-effective storage, usually employing a moving picture experts group (MPEG) format which is an efficient compression method.
However, at present, the use of image data is increasing due to the influence of an image medium-centered society, compared to the past when audio medium was the main source of public entertainment. Therefore, the number of image files recorded on the HDD has also increased. Moreover, due to the large size of high quality image data, the DVR is likely to reach its storage capacity limit no matter how large the storage capacity of the HDD of the DVR becomes.
When image data exceeds the capacity of a recording medium, pre-stored image data should be deleted, or the recording medium needs to be replaced with one having a larger capacity, or an extra recording medium should be added. However, the stored image data is sometimes reluctantly deleted, and additional expense is incurred for a replacement or additional recording medium.